What it is, what it is for, dosage and side effects

The prednisone or prednisolone It is a drug from the line of corticosteroids. This medicine works by canceling any reaction where the immune system acts against itself, that is why it is said to have an immunosuppressive effect.

Too works by suppressing the inflammatory response to a wide variety of agents capable of causing this process. Prednisone may in turn help relieve itchy skin, reduce skin redness, and swelling caused by allergies. This drug is sold by tablets.

As we have mentioned previously, prednisone is used for inflammatory processes and diseases of the immune system. Because of his anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive actionCurrently, prednisone for dogs is used against several processes, among which the following stand out:

• Prednisone for dogs with allergies: Faced with an allergy, the immune system reacts against some non-pathogenic factor, such as pollen, dust, etc., so prednisone will suppress this activity, canceling the symptoms. If this is the case with your furry, here we tell you how to take care of a dog with an allergy.
• Prednisone for dogs with autoimmune diseases: If there is a disease for which the symptoms are occurring, such as any disease of the immune system, the action of prednisone will be the same, canceling the symptoms but not curing the disease. The same happens in autoimmune hemolytic anemia, where the same immune system is responsible for destroying red blood cells. Prednisone will cancel this process but it will not end the disease, but the vet will surely prescribe other medications or a specific type of treatment depending on the problem.
• Prednisone for dogs with tumors: it is usually used against chemotherapy treatments but always combining other types of drugs.
• Prednisone for Addison’s syndrome in dogs: Faced with this disease, the dog suffers a decrease in the production of glucocorticoids, which can be solved with this drug. In this other oneHOWTO article we talk about the Symptoms of Addison’s disease and other aspects of it.
• Prednisone or prednisolone for asthma in dogs: Asthma is a reaction that occurs in the dog due to irritating factors in the environment and consequently an inflammation appears in the respiratory tract. Because of this, this medication can help reduce asthma attacks in dogs.
• Prednisone for kidney disease: When the dog has inflamed kidneys, prednisone is usually a drug of choice to help reduce inflammation, but always monitoring the dog to see if it works or not, since administered long-term could be harmful.

Prednisone is a drug that can produce side effects which can harm your dog’s health, that is why it is so important that it is the veterinarian who prescribes it and controls the dose to be given, the form of administration and of the recovery process.

Depending on the disease and the weight of the dog, one dose or another will be administered, always the minimum effective dose. The usual dose of prednisone for dogs is among the 0.5 – 4 mg per kg of weight can. If the administration is prolonged for 7 days, the dog should stop taking it little by little, giving it every other day or decreasing the dose, if this is not done, serious problems could appear.

To end this informative article on the use of prednisolone or prednisone in dogs, we mention the possible side effects and contraindications that this medication may have:

Side effects of prednisone

Prednisone can cause side effects if it is taken for more than two or three days, so you should observe your faithful friend and go quickly to the vet if you observe any of these symptoms:

• Increased desire to eat and drink.
• Swelling.
• Delayed wound healing.
• Polydipsia (increased need for fluids).
• Trouble breathing

These symptoms usually stop at the end of treatment, but they should not be ignored for this reason.

Contraindications of prednisone

On the other hand, there are a number of contraindications that you should take into account:

• It should not be used in pregnant bitches, as it can cause malformations in the fetus and unwanted abortions.
• If the dog has diabetes, gastrointestinal ulcers, or heart problems, prednisone should not be given. So keep the vet informed of all the problems that your dog has.
• If your dog is lactating, it will be the veterinarian who will advise this drug or the opposite.
• It is not advisable to vaccinate the dog at the same time as it is taking prednisone.

If you want to read more articles similar to Prednisone for dogs: what is it, what is it for, dosage and side effects, we recommend that you enter our category of Pets.